Look to Me
by Enigma-of-the-Ages
Summary: Summer vacation just started, and Lucien is already bored. After deciding to go for a hike in the woods behind his house, he is caught in a mysterious storm and wakes up in a different world. Literally. And he may be in over his head. Possibly KakaOC
1. Prologue

Hiya! This is my first story on fanfiction and my first Naruto story, but not my first fanfic. I'm hoping my muse will let me finish this, because this story has been begging me to write it for quite a while.

Alrighty… rubs hands together Where were we? Ah, yes. I don't own Naruto, though I wish I did.

Oh, and thanks for the inspiration, Rae-chan. Where would I be without you? Probably somewhere very boring and museless.

Enjoy everyone!

Summary Summer vacation just started, and Lucien is already bored. After deciding to go for a hike in the woods behind his house, he is caught in a mysterious storm and wakes up in a different world. Literally. With three rambunctious twelve-year-olds pouncing him at every turn and a perverted genius watching his every move, Lucien seems to be in way over his head...

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Lucien yawned and let his cheek fall on his palm, staring lazily out the window. It was the beginning of summer break, and he had _nothing_ to do. The kitchen clock ticked, the radio crooned a springy swing tune, and Cricket the cat had sprawled herself across the little round table Lucien currently sat at. Her silver-grey fur felt soft between his fingers as he stroked her side with absentminded monotony.

His mum wouldn't be back for another week and a half. There was nothing on TV. He had long since run out of books he hadn't yet read. His friend Bryan had flown to California for vacation, so playing sports with him was out. There was _nothing_ to do. Picking himself up and shaking a few dark curls from his eyes, the teenager snatched a few peaches from the bowl of fruit on the kitchen counter and ambled to his room, deciding to go out for the day. Wrapping the peaches in a jacket, he shoved the bundle into his pack, along with a bottle of water from the fridge as he cut back through the kitchen. He paused to scratch Cricket's ears and tell her, "Guard the house for me, 'kay? I'll be back tonight." He grinned at her responding purr and left the house, locking it as he went.

Sauntering around the house, he waved to a kind-faced elderly woman attacking weeds in her garden. "Hallo, Mrs. O'Malley."

"Oh, hello Lucien-dear." He smiled. She seemed to have an affinity for tacking 'dear' onto people's names and her love for her garden was perhaps a bit out of the ordinary, but she was a sweet woman. Hopping the fence at the back of the house, he entered the woods, humming to himself.

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Three hours later, he sat under a big maple tree and dug his water out, taking several giant gulps. Wiping his forehead, Lucien relaxed back against the bark and took a bite of one of the peaches. A distant rumble sounded. He cocked his head to the side, eyebrows rising. It was a warm sunny day out, and yet that sounded suspiciously like thunder… The sound came again, closer and louder. It was definitely thunder. Frowning, he climbed to his feet and looked up.

Bright blue sky. A few fluffy white clouds. Some sunshine spattering the ground around him.

_RumbleRumbleRUMBLE_

…

_RUMBLERUMBLE**RUMBLE**_

Slightly on edge now (_'Could a storm even move that fast?'_), Lucien picked his bag back up and slung it over his shoulder, deciding that it was perhaps time to start for home now…

**_RUMBLE_**

**BOOM**

Lucien jumped as a buckets of ice water came crashing down over his head, drenching him almost instantly. Sputtering and squinting, he peered skyward. Heavy, looming grey storm clouds undulated threateningly overhead, then the whole clearing lit up with two bright flashes of white light and a deafening roar filled his ears, making him duck and clap his hands over them, eyes tight shut, teeth clenched. White burned into the backs of his eyelids and the thunder was so loud it drowned out everything else; his thoughts, the feeling of water coursing over his huddled body, the racket of his heart palpitating against his ribs like a spooked rabbit in a cage, the smell of damp moss and peach juice. The only things that existed were the all-consuming roar and the taste of electricity in his mouth.

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Yeah, it'spretty short…. The others will be longer, I swear! twitch Please let me know what you think, if the story should have a pairing and if so, which one/s. I'm not averse to yoai pairings, and this may end up being LucienKakashi. If you hate this idea, let me know!

Constructive criticism is welcome, flames are not. Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 1

_'Mmmm… S'warm…'_

Lucien hugged his rucksack closer, nuzzling his face into the use-softened canvas fabric.

Hmm… That was strange…

…Why did he have his pack in his bed? Come to think of it, his bed felt very firm… Rough, even. Like- His eyes snapped open.

'_Like bark.'_

He looked around.

'_Oh shit…'_

He was in a tree. On a limb, to be exact. About- he glanced down- twenty five feet up.

…Greeeeeaaat.

A loud voice shouted something a ways away. Lucien's ears pricked and he squinted through the warm patches of sunlight and clusters of green leaves, trying to see who it was. The voice grew closer, until he could tell what it was saying.

"AHHH! SASUKE! I bet I can find that plant TWICE as fast as you! NO! THREE times as fast!"

Another, quieter, almost condescending voice replied, "It's an herb, loser."

Now a female voice. "That's right, Naruto! It's an _herb_. Only someone as immature as you wouldn't know that."

"I can still find it faster than _him_!"

"You couldn't distinguish one plant from another if the right one came up and bit you in the-"

"**I CAN TOO, SASUKE! WATCH ME!**"

'_Whoa… Kid's a little competitive…'_ Lucien could hear someone crashing around the base of his tree, apparently searching for the herb they had been talking about. There was a low, "Hn," from the quieter kid and then he heard rustling and shuffling in that direction, too. So, the loud one had managed to ruffle the other's feathers, hm? And where was-

"Hey, isn't this it?"

-the girl… _'That was fast,'_ he thought, peering down through the branches. He jerked back with a strangled gasp as a pointy metal blur shot past his nose, embedding itself in the trunk of the tree. He stared at it, uncomprehending. It… Looked like some sort of… Knife? Dagger, maybe? A whizzing sound jerked him back to the present and he leapt back just in time to avoid two little star-shaped weapons with holes in their centers.

They missed him and hit the trunk, but Lucien had forgotten he was in a tree and leaping backwards had set him squarely…

In midair.

Branches whipped his arms and sides as he plummeted downward with a muffled yell, still clutching his bag to his chest. An orange-and-yellow blur shot past him, but he paid it little mind as he scrambled for a handhold, finally catching a thin branch. It snapped under his weight, but slowed him down a bit, and he slammed belly-first into a thicker branch below it with a low wheeze.

Gasping and groaning, he started to push himself up with his arms when that same orange blur landed in front of him. He raised his eyes. A tanned, whisker-marked face, unruly blond hair, and very blue eyes stared back.

A short pause. Then-

"Who're **you**?"

Lucien's eyebrows shot skyward. Was any of this supposed to make sense? The blonde didn't seem to expect an answer to his own question, because a split second later he was rubbing the back of his head and grinning sheepishly at the dark-haired teen.

"Heheh… Sorry. I thought you were spying on us."

"Er… That's… Okay. Um…" _'Why would I spy on some kids picking plants?'_

The blonde grinned again, standing up on the limb, which was about seven feet off the ground. Lucien sat back against the trunk and loosened his death-grip on his rucksack.

"My name's Naruto Uzumaki! What's yours?"

"Uh… Lucien Hunt. Nice to meet you, I guess."

The kid beamed and suddenly _hopped off the branch_. Lucien yelped and made a dive for him, but the kid landed easily at the base of the tree. He hadn't stopped grinning. Until, that is, a black-haired boy who looked about his age (they appeared four or five years younger than Lucien himself, making them about twelve) materialized from the shadows of the forest and muttered, "Sakura found it, loser. Let's go." He froze, however, when he saw Lucien climb down from the tree and land nimbly behind Naruto.

Black eyes (or where they very, very dark blue?) narrowed before he hissed, "Who're you."

It seemed to be a demand more than a question, and his pale hand was twitching toward a pouch strapped to his leg. Before Lucien could answer, Naruto bounded forward, dragging the curly-haired boy along.

"This is… Uh… Loo-shen. I found him in the tree!"

"I didn't ask you, Naruto! Get away from him! He could be a spy!"

"He is not, Sasuke! He couldn't even catch himself when I threw shuriken at him! He's not fast enough to be a ninja!"

Whoa! Freeze and rewind! Did he just say 'ninja'? He must have looked dumbfounded, because 'Sasuke' lowered his hand and resorted to merely glaring at him and offering a suspicious "Hn."

"Saaaa-suke! Where are you? Naruto?" That was the girl's voice, a moment before she burst through the trees. Lucien stared. He couldn't help it. She had _pink_ hair. Not dye pink. Pastel-flower-petal-even-her-eyebrows-are-pink. The blonde beside him bounced excitedly.

"Sakura! Look! I found this guy stuck in this tree! His name's Looshen!"

The girl, who also appeared to be around twelve, stared at him for a moment, before smiling, a faint blush in her cheeks, and holding her hand out for him to shake.

"I'm Sakura. Nice to meet you."

"Yeah, you too…" He took her small hand and shook it, smiling dazedly. _'Might as well go with it…'_

A small noise made them both look over at the boys. Naruto was nudging and glaring at Sasuke, who was beginning to twitch before he hissed, "What, loser?"

"Introduce yourself," Naruto stage-whispered back. Sasuke glared at him and said nothing. Sakura sighed and spoke up.

"That's Sasuke." Lucien looked back to her and swallowed a grin. She had her hands clasped in front of her and her jade eyes locked adoringly on the stoic boy.

"Well, it's been… Interesting… But I should get going. You see, I'm a little lost, and-" Naruto leapt forward, latching onto the curly-haired boy's hand and crowing, "We'll help you!" Noticing the glares of his… Friends?... he huffed and said, "Whaaat?"

Sakura stormed forward and promptly smacked the blonde atop his head.

"We're supposed to meet Kakashi-sensei, you dork! Did you just forget about the mission!" Jumping in surprise at the sweet-turned-sour girl's mood swing, Lucien edged back a bit, waiting until she'd retreated a fair distance before pulling Naruto to his feet.

"Owww… Saaaakuraaa… Kakashi-sensei doesn't even know we found it yet! And besides, we can't just leave him here!"

"Uh, actually, I can just-" Sasuke cut him off, speaking up for the first time since his little spy-ninja paranoia trip.

"The loser's right. We should bring him with us and let Kakashi figure out what to do with him." Lucien twitched. _'He makes me sound like some troublesome pet, or something. A real charmer, this one.'_

Sakura beamed at Sasuke, ignoring Naruto completely, and grasped Lucien's hand in both of her own, saying, "Please come with us, now. Kakashi-sensei will help you." He couldn't help but grin back at her warm and gentle smile and follow her away.

Naruto bounced up beside him and began chattering away about… Something or other… And Sasuke followed behind them. Lucien didn't have to glance back to know he was looking at him, but he did it anyway. He was right; Sasuke was watching him with cool, calculating black eyes. He pretended not to notice and adjusted his bag over his shoulder, continuing to follow Sakura and half-listen to Naruto.

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A/N: Constructive criticism is welcome, flames are not. Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 2

Lucien was zoned out. He vaguely noticed Naruto, who had finally grown silent and now appeared in deep thought, Sasuke, who hadn't spoken a word since they started walking, and Sakura, who still held on of his hands with hers and led the little party on a winding trail through the trees. But he wasn't focused on them. He was retracing his steps from- wait, what time was it? Was it still the same day? How long had he been asleep? Well, he supposed it didn't really matter. Now, let's see… He'd decided that he would take a walk in the woods to stave off his boredom, packed his rucksack, and left. About three hours in, a huge storm had come out of nowhere. After that… Nothing. The last thing he could remember was the thunder become an almost palpable roar. And then everything had melted together and he'd woken up in a tree.

He didn't realize Sakura had stopped until he bumped into her. Backtracking and murmuring an apology, he glanced up. And froze.

Cold, unwavering metal against hot, racing vein. A knife at his throat. His wide, doe-brown eyes trailed up the blade, over the white bandages of the handle, across the long pale fingers holding it, over the black fingerless gloves, pale arm, dark shirt, green vest, dark mask, up to the single visible dark grey eye gazing right back at him.

Silence. Lucien opened his mouth, but couldn't speak. The icy metal bit into his neck and he flinched, eyes clamping tight shut, knuckles white as he clenched the strap of his bag. Then he heard Sakura's voice call out.

"Kakashi-sensei!" The knife paused.

"It's okay, he's a friend! Naruto found him in the forest. He's lost."

Lucien shivered as the cool blade trailed faintly across his jugular before its cold touch vanished completely from his skin. Suddenly warm fingers lifted his chin, forcing his slightly bowed head up.

"What's your name?" The voice was low and even, unscathed and apparently unruffled despite having a moment ago been close to slitting his throat. Lucien's eyes snapped open into a furiously and he jerked away from the touch, glaring into the dark eyes scrutinizing him.

"None of your business." The skintight mask over the taller man's face shifted slightly as he chuckled.

"You're fraternizing with my students and are a possible threat to them. I'd say that gives me the right to say it's my business, wouldn't you?"

The teen growled in frustration, but didn't answer. The grey eye arced happily. One of Lucien's eyebrows rose. This guy was _weird_. And, sadly, _right_. He sighed and muttered, "Lucien. And I'm guessing yours is Kakashi?"

The eye cracked open slightly. It still looked like the man was smiling.

"Correct! Well, Lucien, it seems I have to help you or face being mobbed by angry ninja kids, so-"

Lucien fumed. Why was this man so _infuriating_! Letting his breath hiss out through his clenched teeth, he snarled (sarcasm practically _dripping_ from every word), "Oh, don't bother yourself on _my_ account. I'll leave you to your students so you can teach them how to throw knives at innocent bystanders. I have to get going, anyway." He wheeled and met a pair of blue eyes. Naruto gazed up at him imploringly, eyes practically shimmering with innocent childlike cuteness. _'Well, damn.'_ Puppy-dog eyes win again.

He twitched; he could almost _hear_ Kakashi grinning. Spinning around, he poked his finger into the other man's chest, hissing, "This doesn't mean you've won anything," and marched resolutely past him, Naruto bouncing up beside him. Sakura scurried after, glancing back at her sensei, and Sasuke trailed along with a bored expression on his face. Lucien glared down the trail as he walked, but the glare slowly morphed into a blank mask as he withdrew into his own thoughts. How _was_ he going to get home? He didn't even know where he was! As if on cue, he heard the low, smooth voice of Kakashi next to him.

"So, where do you live?"

"Well, that depends on where I am now. If I told you the name of my street and I'm not even in the same city as I was, then you'd be completely lost. The name of my city and I might not even be in the same state. Maybe you should just tell me where I am, instead of me telling you where I'm not."

"…Alright then, you're just outside of Konoha, the Village Hidden in the Leaves."

"Uh… What state is that in?" Lucien asked, feeling dazed again.

"…State? You want to know it's condition?" Kakashi was looking at him sideways, his face carefully blank, though the thought _'This kid's frikkin' nuts'_ was clear in his eye. Lucien scowled, glaring at him.

"No, idiot, I want to know what _state_ it's in. You know, name your city, state, and country?"

"…"

"…As in the United _States_ of America?"

"…The what?"

"Is Konoha a part of some bigger piece of land that has a name?"

"It's in the Fire Country if that's what you mean," Kakashi stated matter-of-factly, apparently deciding that Lucien was indeed insane. The aforementioned curly-haired teen was now frozen where he stood, one foot perched just off the ground, his brain running a mile a minute. He was quickly coming to the same conclusion Kakashi'd just come to; '_They're all nuts.'_ Turning to look at the taller man with the oddly-styled grey hair and his three 'ninja' lackeys, Lucien forced a smile, which looked a lot more like he was baring his teeth than grinning good-naturedly. This, along with his dangerously narrowed eyes had Sakura and Naruto edging away from him. Sasuke was already far enough back to be safe, but Kakashi was right next to Lucien (now facing him) and was in danger of burning to death under his glare.

"Is this some kind of joke," the dark-haired boy ground out through gritted teeth. Kakashi blinked, then his eye arced again.

"Nope!"

Lucien snorted derisively, his hands clenched into fists. "Yeah, right. First you all tell me you're _ninjas_, now you're giving me some bull about a _Fire Country_! How _stupid_ do you think I am!" Without waiting for an answer, he turned on his heel and barreled back down the trail, not looking back at them and running as fast as he could. Hey, if these guys were trying to trick him, there was a chance they were doing it to hurt him later, and he didn't want to gamble on that. To his relief, they didn't follow.

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Panting heavily, Lucien slumped against a tree. He wasn't sure how long he'd been running, but he was positive it was for longer than he'd run in his life. He'd left the trail a ways back, hoping that, if they did come after him, they would continue to follow it assuming he wouldn't be foolish enough to skip off into uncharted wilderness. Well, he knew how to deal with uncharted wilderness, but people with knives (even if three of the four of them were prepubescent) he'd rather not handle.

Relaxing against the bark, he dug into his bag until he found his water and took another drink from it. Sighing, he began to sift through his bag again to see what else was in it. Some peaches, his jacket, a dirty pair of pants and a shirt from when he went swimming with Bryan a few days ago (he'd worn his trunks under his clothes but hadn't brought a fresh set to change into after and then had forgotten to take the worn clothes out of his bag), his iPod mini, headphones, and iTrip (which let him broadcast the iPod over an unused radio station), a Swiss Army knife (he'd never really needed it for anything but brought it with him everywhere because it was a very nice one his sister had given him for his birthday one year), and some change. None of those would really help him now. None of them screamed at him 'Use me to get home!' Hell, he'd even left his compass because he'd navigated the woods behind his house so many times that he didn't need it anymore.

Sighing, he closed the flap and set the bag beside him before breathing in deeply and letting the warm sunshine affect him. The scent of pine, herbs, flowers, and other plants calmed him, and he fell into a partial doze, his eyes closed and breathing slow and even, though he wasn't quite asleep.

He lay like that for an uncertain amount of time, but he was startled fully awake by the feeling of arms under his shoulders and knees. He remained perfectly still, controlling his breathing and trying to keep his eyes from moving under their lids as he was lifted from the ground, but stiffened slightly when he was pulled against someone's chest. Someone's _vested_ chest. And if he could see he would bet that vest was green.

_'Dammit! How'd he find me!'_

He felt his still body shift as the person holding him adjusted his weight to crouch and pick something else up from the ground. His bag? Then they were in motion, moving quickly. Far _too_ quickly, actually. Could a human even move fast enough to make that much resistance in the air? It felt like a wind was blowing against them, and Lucien twitched and shifted minutely, his eyes opening enough to see that they were _flying_. No, not flying, moving very fast through the trees, which was just as weird. Gasping, he squirmed and felt the arms around him tighten in response.

He stifled a yell as his captor leapt smoothly over a gap far too wide for any human to jump and continue on as if it was nothing, still easily keeping a now-struggling Lucien from falling. Then the trees where behind them and they were in the air, plummeting for the ground, and Lucien squeezed his eyes tight shut and instinctively buried his face in the vest next to him, gripping the shoulders of it.

They landed as if the person had just hopped down from a steep stair, not as if they had just fallen twenty-some feet from a tree, and kept moving at an even faster pace. He didn't remove his fingers from where they clutched the man's shoulders, nor did he open his eyes when he heard the soft, rapid patter of three more pairs of feet around him. Something ahead of them groaned, like wooden doors on old hinges but much larger, and now people's voices hummed around them and now below them and now the footsteps racing around and below him sounded on planks of wood and now they had slowed and now doors were pushed open and now they had stopped and there was silence.

Lucien was holding his breath as he slowly, cautiously opened his eyes. Light and color swayed and danced before Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto swam into focus, the background no longer a forest but a large, plain room with big windows opened to let in the fresh air and the fading sunlight. His eyes opened fully and snapped upwards. Kakashi's dark eye gazed boredly back into his, and Lucien blinked up at him for a moment before thrashing in his arms and shouting, "Let me down you psychotic nutcase!" He just caught a glimpse of the eye arching gleefully again before Kakashi's voice replied happily, "As you wish," and the arms released him.

He fell on his back and glared up at the smiling face above him from where he lay. In Kakashi's left hand was his bag.

Before he could demand it back, an aged, wise voice startled him out of his righteous anger.

"So you've actually fallen so low as to have to hunt down your companions, Kakashi?" (A/N: By 'companions,' he means boyfriends, girlfriends, one-night-stands, etc. He's trying to poke fun at Kakashi's perverted ways, or at least his perverted reading material, in a way that won't scar the poor twelve-year-olds for life. XD)

Propping himself up on his elbows, Lucien looked to his other side. Behind a large oak desk sat an old man dressed in white and red and sporting an odd hat. A smoking pipe sat at one side of his mouth and his stern (but currently amused) light grey eyes rested on Lucien, the pipe-less side of his mouth slightly upturned. Kakashi coughed softly.

"Not exactly, Lord Hokage. My students found this boy in the woods outside of the gates and brought him to me, telling me he was lost. He attested to this, but when asked where he lived, he refused to answer and instead wanted to know where he was. When I told him, he seemed incredulous and accused me of lying before running off into the woods. Under the circumstances, I thought it would be best for you to decide what should be done with him. If he's lying, it means he has something to hide which may prove dangerous to the village. If he's merely insane, he might be a danger to himself or someone else." Over the course of Kakashi's 'story,' a scowl had formed and proceeded to grow darker and more murderous with every word. This did not escape the Hokage's keen sight and he chuckled softly before saying to Lucien, "I assume this is not your account of this little misadventure. Perhaps you would be willing to share your side?"

Lucien pushed himself to his feet and dusted himself off (being sure to be a fair distance away from the grey-haired, masked psycho once he was standing) before casting a dark look at an expressionless Kakashi and starting.

"I was taking a walk in the woods behind me house when a storm came through, which seemed strange to me because the day had been cloudless and sunny until a few seconds before the storm reached me. I guess I must have blacked out during it because I woke up in a tree in an unfamiliar part of the forest. I heard voices soon after that and met Naruto after he tried to attack me, thinking I was spying on him, or something." Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"We got to the ground and I met Sasuke and Sakura and told them I was lost. They told me they would take me to Kakashi, who would help me find my way back. We found him and he promptly threatened my life. Sakura explained my situation and he backed off and asked me where I was from. I explained that it was difficult to do in case I was really as far from home as I was and told him to instead tell me where I was. After spewing off some crap about a fire country and he and his students being ninja, I decided he was crazy and I would be better off on my own. I also decided that, he and one of his students having just recently nearly killed me, they might take drastic measures should I try to leave, so I ran.

"After I stopped, this insane idiot (here he jerked his thumb at Kakashi) kidnapped me and forcibly brought me here." Crossing his arms, Lucien watched the thoughtful expression on the Hokage's face. Then the old man motioned Kakashi forward while speaking to Lucien, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke.

"Would you four be so kind as to step outside for a moment? I would like to discuss something with Hatake." Lucien blinked and felt Naruto and Sakura gently tug him toward the door. He followed without argument, wondering who Hatake was and what the Hokage wanted to speak with him about. _'Unless…'_ Kakashi was Hatake… That would make sense, he supposed. Maybe Hatake was his last name, or something. But that still didn't answer what he wanted to talk to him about…

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A/N: Constructive criticism is welcome, flames are not. Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 3

The sentries standing outside the Hokage's door watched Lucien pace the hall with amusement, their faces hidden by white animal masks with red accents. It had been perhaps ten minutes since the Hokage had kicked him out and he was impatient to hear what they were going to do about his situation. Turning to walk the other way for the fifty-something time, he was jerked out of his thoughts by the sound of the door opening. Kakashi stepped out and briefly fixed him with a glance that somehow seemed to see right through him before the taller man wandered over to his students. One of the masked guards, this one sporting a bear mask, jerked his head toward the open door, saying gruffly, "Your turn, kid."

The other dipped his deer mask delicately and murmured, "Go on," when Lucien hesitated. As soon as he was inside, the doors closed with a soft click that somehow seemed to say doom. Swallowing, Lucien approached the desk and stopped a respectful distance away. The Hokage peered out at him from under his hat, and Lucien ducked his head very slightly, letting his dark curls hide some of his face.

The old man chuckled behind his interlocked fingers and stated plainly, "You're not from this world, are you?"

Lucien's mouth fell open. "I'm… Not entirely sure what you mean, sir."

"I mean," the old man continued, "that you are currently in a different reality than the one you lived in. Have you ever heard of the Land of Waves before?" Lucien shook his head. "No? How about, genin? Chuunin? ANBU? Have you ever heard the word 'Hokage' prior to entering this room?"

"Well, no…"

"What about the village? Do your 'cities' look like this?" The Hokage waved a hand at the windows and Lucien approached them hesitantly, gazing out with awe when he reached them.

"No, sir, they certainly don't…" he breathed, amazed.

"You have never before heard of any of the things I have mentioned, you dress strangely, even your appearance is strange. You were in your world, a mysterious storm defying the laws of nature swept through, and you awoke here, in a place you've never seen or heard of before. I have my reasons to think that perhaps you are not from the same reality, or even time, as we are."

Lucien looked back to him, brows knitting. "Alright, you've got me there, but what do I do about this?" The Hokage smiled, his pale eyes warm.

"For now you will stay here. There are enemies of our village who I think would be very interested in the idea of traveling between worlds. When you're here, we can protect you. Now we just have to find you a place to stay. I'll have someone look through the housing arrangements and see if there's a space for you. In fact, I think I know someone without a roommate who would be happy to have you." The old man grinned and waved a hand. Taking this as his cue to leave, Lucien turned to go before pausing.

"Sir?" he began hesitantly.

"Yes?"

"What did you mean by my appearance being strange? I mean, what about me looks odd?"

The Hokage answered his question with another question. "Does everyone in your world have such interesting hair?"

"Huh?" Lucien reached up, running a hand through his dark brown locks. Understanding struck him as he realized something; not a single person he'd seen so far had curly hair. "Oh, no, not all of them. It's rather uncommon, but apparently not half as rare as it is here." Giving the old man one more smile and a final 'Thank you,' he hurried out.

Bear Sentry seemed to be grinning behind the mask as he asked, "So how'd it go?" Stag Sentry turned his head to Lucien, his black eyeholes watching him eerily.

"Alright, I guess," he replied with a shrug, then he turned to Bear Sentry and asked, "Why do you guys wear those masks?"

Stag Sentry replied simply in his soft, elegant voice, "We're ANBU."

Lucien turned his attention to him. "What're ANBU?"

Bear Sentry replied, with a growly, gruff satisfaction, "The best of the best."

"Oh…" _'Well that answered absolutely nothing.'_ Nodding as if he understood, Lucien hurried off, wondering where he was supposed to go now. Stag Sentry called after him, "They're still in the mission's room. If you hurry, you can catch them," and before Lucien could ask where the mission's room was, Stag answered his thoughts. "Down the hall to the left."

"Thanks," he called back, and waved before padding down the hallway.

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There were no ANBU standing guard at the door to the mission's room, and Lucien walked right through, looking around himself at the various men and women, most dressed similarly to Kakashi, standing around or sitting in chairs filling out papers. Behind several long desks at the far side of the room sat a few more people, taking the papers they were offered and glancing through them before dismissing the people handing them in. The majority of the people in the room, Lucien noticed, were male.

Someone slammed into him suddenly and he fell backward with a yelp and a flurry of papers. Sitting up on his elbows with a groan, he looked around to see what hit him. He was met with a pair of warm brown eyes. The man before him was perhaps in his early twenties, maybe even younger, his brown hair pulled up into a fluffy ponytail, a thin scar running horizontally across his tan nose. The man scampered to his knees, apologizing profusely and blushing. Lucien sat up, saying quickly, "No, it was my fault, I wasn't looking where I was going. Sorry about that." Smiling sheepishly, he helped the still-blushing man gather his papers, which had scattered all over the place when they fell.

When all the folders and sheets had been gathered up and both were standing, the older man held out a hand and said, "I'm Iruka Umino. I'm a teacher at the academy."

Lucien took the proffered hand and shook it, grinning. "Lucien Hunt. I'm… New here. Pleasure to meet you."

Iruka beamed. "You too! Well, I have to get going, but it was nice meeting you. I hope you like it here." He grinned, a faint pinkness in his cheeks as he rubbed the scar on his nose with his thumb.

Lucien flushed slightly and smiled. "Thanks. I guess I'll see you around, then. 'Bye."

Iruka nodded and scurried out, and Lucien turned to find himself almost nose-to-nose with Kakashi Hatake. Gasping and jerking backwards, he almost fell over again.

"God, Kakashi! Are you trying to kill me!" The intense stare of the masked ninja's visible eye broke abruptly as he smiled, little crinkles appearing in his mask.

"That might be amusing." Huffing, Lucien brushed past him, only to choke as he was pulled back by the collar of his shirt.

"I'd like to speak with you, Mister Hunt." 'Mr. Hunt' was about to argue when a puff of smoke and a flutter of leaves obscured his vision. Waving his hands to clear it, he squinted through the fading smoke. As a man's outline appeared through the fog, he felt Kakashi's grip tighten on the scruff of his neck. An exuberant voice rose out of the clearing air.

"Kakashi! My most esteemed eternal rival! I have been searching for you, for I have found a new way to battle!"

The man standing (in a ridiculous pose) before them had a bowl haircut, inhumanly large and rectangular eyebrows, and the blackest, shiniest hair Lucien had ever seen. And the Hokage thought _his_ hair and clothing were weird? The man was wearing _green spandex_, for Gods sake! Back-stepping until his shoulder blades ran into Kakashi's chest, Lucien watched in horrified fascination as the man flashed a blinding smile and gave his 'eternal rival' an enthusiastic thumbs up. He felt Kakashi groan, the sound vibrating into his own body from Kakashi's.

"And who is this! Ah, fair flower, the Beautiful Green Beast of Konoha is delighted to make your acquaintance!" Lucien looked around, trying to figure out who the man was babbling to, before he realized with a thrill of horror that he was talking to _him_.

"Um… Nice to meet you?" Lucien smiled nervously, then winced as Kakashi's grip tightened yet further. He nudged him with his elbow, trying to get him to let go.

"Ah, fair maiden, such manners! And never before have I seen such original hair! So new! So in! And such beautiful, lucid eyes! You are an angel on earth, dear lady!"

Lucien twitched. "Um, actually I'm-"

"Hatake!" Lucien felt Kakashi's stomach muscles tense through his shirt and vest.

"Let the lady be a witness to our battle! If I do not best you, I shall run fifty laps around the village! This fair flower of Konoha shall choose the victor of our fight!"

"Um, actually, I have to-"

"What hair-brained test have you spent all day scheming up this time, Gai?" Kakashi's voice was nonchalant. Bored, even, but his muscles hadn't relaxed. Was he actually accepting this… Challenge-thing? Lucien twisted his head around to look up at him. His face appeared calm, as far as he could tell, and his visible eye was half-lidded and lazy-looking, though his eyebrow was very slightly furrowed and his grip on Lucien's scruff was still iron-hard.

Gai struck a pose and exclaimed, "Such a hip response! I will best you yet, Kakashi! We will test our skills in a battle of generosity! If I can not paint every wall of the home being remodeled on 41st before you, I shall-"

"Yes yes, we know. Fifty laps around Konoha. However," Kakashi's eye was glittering, "I can't help but doubt your endurance, Gai. After all, D-rank missions with genin aren't going to keep you in shape. Perhaps you should lower the number. Say, ten laps? Five?"

Gai puffed himself up. "MY MOST ESTEEMED ETERNAL RIVAL! Time and again you have proven yourself a most worthy opponent! And now you do so YET AGAIN! (If he shouted anymore, Lucien thought his ridiculous bowl-cut would explode) How could I even THINK of challenging the great copy-nin Kakashi without PROVING myself FIRST! I will show my worthiness through DEDICATION! I SHALL RUN **SIXTY** LAPS AROUND OUR BEAUTIFUL VILLAGE RIGHT NOW TO PROVE MYSELF TO YOU, MY MOST ESTEEMED RIVAL!" And with that, he was gone, leaving Lucien to gape after him. He felt a little shove as Kakashi pushed him off his chest (which he had started leaning back into when Gai started bellowing like a wounded buffalo).

"Now then," Kakashi began, steering him toward the door, "Let's take this elsewhere. Team 7, let's go. We have a mission." Lucien looked around and found Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke trailing after them, looks of awe and/or shock on the faces of the first two. Naruto had Lucien's bag clutched to his chest.

He decided to stay silent for the trip, taking in his surroundings as they wandered through the streets to a small but comfortable-looking house with a large garden. A middle-aged woman opened the door to greet them as they walked in through the gate and told them they would be pulling weeds in her backyard. She handed them a few gardening tools and showed them around the side of the house to the backyard, then told them she would be out later with some drinks. Kakashi promptly unfolded himself under the shade of a tree as Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke set down their ninja gear (and in Naruto's case, Lucien's bag) and set to work. Glancing up at the hot sun beating down, then over at the lounging Kakashi, who now appeared to be engrossed in an orange paperback book he'd pulled out of thin air, and finally over to the kids, Lucien picked up a spade and knelt down with them, carefully working the earth loose around a few tangled weeds, and set to work pulling them up. He saw Kakashi glance at him out of his peripheral vision, but paid him little mind.

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Twenty minutes later, Lucien was hot, sweaty, dirty, and panting, but his large patch of garden was weed free and the dirt patted firm. Satisfied, he stood up and brushed off his knees to get rid of some of the dirt. His shirt was smeared with it. He shrugged, then peeled it off, feeling relieved as a cool breeze blew over his sticky, burning skin. Sauntering over to the tree and rolling his shirt up as he went, he surveyed the others' progress. Naruto was tearing up anything in front of him, apparently in a race with Sasuke, who seemed torn between being cautious and pulling the right plants or winning the race and potentially pulling up every herb and flower along with the weeds. Sakura was panting heavily and wiping her brow, the prongs of her gardening tool half-buried in the earth as she struggled with the heat.

Lucien flopped down next to Kakashi, using his rolled-up shirt as a pillow and closing his eyes with a sigh of contentment.

"Enjoy yourself?" purred Kakashi's mocking voice close to Lucien's right. Cracking one eye open, he hmphed and settled deeper into the cool green grass. They sat in semi-amiable silence for a while before Lucien asked, without opening his eyes, "So what're you reading?"

Had his eyes been open, he might have caught the mischievous glint in Kakashi's one eye, but they weren't and he didn't.

"Would you like to see?" Alerted by the playful tone of his voice, Lucien opened his eyes and sat up, leaning against the tree next to Kakashi, watching him warily.

"Sure…"

Kakashi beamed and edged closer to him, settling in with their hips just brushing and held up the book. Lucien couldn't read the title because it was in Japanese characters (or at least that's what it looked like to him), but there was an odd cartoon of a girl running away from a boy with his arms outstretched to her on the cover. Arching an eyebrow, he glanced up at Kakashi's face as he opened up the book.

"KAKASHI-SENSEI, NO!"

Three blurs tackled the grey-haired man, Sasuke (surprisingly) pressing him back against the tree, Sakura trying to drag him away by his legs, and Naruto clinging to the arm holding his book. Thoroughly freaked out, Lucien scrambled up, retreating a fair distance from all four of them before just watching the show. The three kids dangled in the air as Kakashi stood and one by one tried to pluck them off. Enjoying the spectacle for a few moments, Lucien hid a smile and stepped forward, grasping Naruto and gently prying him off Kakashi's arm and setting him down. Sasuke hopped off, did a graceful back flip, and landed in a crouch a few feet away. Sakura slid off and stepped back, all three of them watching Kakashi for signs of retaliation, Naruto edging behind Lucien's legs.

At that precise moment, an ANBU leapt into the backyard, appearing out of nowhere. As Lucien turned to face him, he recognized Stag Sentry's mask and smiled.

Stag bowed briefly before holding out a scroll to him and explaining as Lucien took it from him, "These will be your new living arrangements. We are working to find you a place to stay on your own, but until that time you will share an apartment with a roommate. The Hokage also recommends you consider occupational options. Job ideas," he translated with his smooth voice, catching Lucien's blank look.

"Oh. Thanks." Lucien looked down at the scroll, looking thoughtful, then asked, "Was it coincidence that you were the one to give me this?"

The ANBU chuckled, dipping his elegant deer mask gracefully. "No. The Hokage wanted to find someone that would know where you were going, and Bear was busy." Lucien grinned, then his happy expression became one of astonishment as the ANBU _disappeared right in front of him_.

Catching his look of amazement, Kakashi said incredulously, "You really _don't_ know anything about ninja, do you?" Lucien shook his head, unable to tear his eyes from the spot Stag had stood just moments ago. Naruto hopped up to him, grinning from ear-to-ear.

"Wanna see my best jutsu? It's awesome!"

"…Jutsu?"

"Yeah, cool ninja moves!"

"Oh, okay, sure. Let's see it."

Lucien had to admit he was a bit doubtful as Naruto took up a wide-legged stance and clasped his hands together in an odd sign, then shouted, "**Shadow Clone Jutsu!**"

But as a huge plume of smoke engulfed them, along with several faint, strange pinging noises, he started to get nervous. The smoke cleared quickly, revealing _twelve_ Narutos. Lucien stood frozen, his mind not quite processing it. The Narutos gave him foxy grins and all but one of them disappeared in little puffs of smoke.

…

…Silence…

The four ninja watched him as he stood unmoving for a long moment, then whispered, "Holy shit…" and passed out. Naruto rushed forward, horrified, while Sakura gasped, Sasuke turned back to the garden, and Kakashi looked on with interest and amusement.


	5. Chapter 4

Holy reviews Batman! I got TWO of 'em! YAY! What I don't have, however, is Naruto. Dang.

Many thanks and worshippings to:

**anna**

**InSaNe-AnImE-SLaVe**

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'_Mm-unng… What… Happened? Ugh, I feel like crap… And it's freezing…'_ Shivering, Lucien curled up tighter in his little ball, conserving heat. _'I guess I should open my eyes now…'_ Reluctantly, he pried one hazy, out-of-focus eye open, then the other. _'This is NOT my room!'_ Jerking upright, he swiveled his head around quickly, panicked. He was on a sofa in a deserted room. Aside from a dusty bookshelf and a closet, the room was bare. Clutching the blanket draped haphazardly over him to his chest, he gazed around, wide-eyed. What the bloody _Hell_ was going on here!

Breathing erratic, he slowly climbed to his feet, still hugging the rumpled blanket. There was a door to his left. He edged toward it, gaze still flicking around the room. Fumbling for the doorknob for a moment, he found it, twisted the knob, and was out of the room and scampering silently down a hallway before he fully realized it. Slowing to a walk, he crept along the wooden floor toward the open room at the end. When he reached it and peered out, he found a living room and connected kitchen. Both were a bit messy, but not very lived in, as if the person living here rushed in, did what they had to, and rushed out again. Breathing slowing a bit at the normalcy of it (no rusted manacles or bloody knives), he straightened and slipped in quietly.

He couldn't hear a sound except for his own steady heartbeat and his soft breathing. He took in the appearance of the rooms from the scrolls scattered on the floor of the living room to the mugs and bowls piled in the sink. Just as he was inspecting a stray spoon forgotten on the table, someone knocked on the door at the other end of the room. Startled, Lucien hesitated, then cautiously edged over to it and cracked the door open. A beaming face was on the other side. Opening the door some more, he was surprised when the person stated cheerfully (and without opening his eyes), "Hey, are you ready to go Naru-" It was at this point his smile died down enough for his eyes to open and see it was not the person he expected to be talking to. Lucien blinked up at him blankly, then stated blandly, "If you're wondering what I'm doing here, you're not the only one." The man flushed pink, then grinned again, making Lucien's eyebrows rise in befuddlement.

"Oh, hello again! It's Iruka, we met earlier?" _'Oh, yeah…'_ The strange events of the day now came crashing back, and he remembered Iruka, along with quite a few things he didn't want to remember (this whole 'Different World' fiasco being at the top of his list). Vaguely he wondered who had put his shirt back on.

"Oh, yes. Nice to see you again. Please come… In?" It felt odd inviting a sort-of-stranger into someone else's home, but of the two options (the other one being leaving Iruka out in the quickly cooling night air) it seemed like the best. The young man beamed again and entered, finding a seat on the less messy side of the living room couch.

Lucien trailed after him, and after shoving a few books aside, found his own little patch of couch.

"So how do you know Naruto?" They both asked at the same time, then looked at each other, surprised. After a small pause, Lucien went first.

"He was one of the ninja that escorted me into the village." Not a total lie, really. In fact, not a lie at all, just not the _whole_ truth.

"Ah. I was his teacher before Kakashi-sensei at the academy." Iruka's voice was tinged with pride and nostalgia.

"He's a great kid. A little loud and very energetic, but it seems like if you made friends with him, he'd stay with you no matter what. Where I come from, it's hard to come across loyalty like that." Iruka was looking more and more amazed, though Lucien couldn't see why.

"Not many people see him that way," Iruka observed, watching Lucien carefully. At his curious expression, he continued, "Naruto's not a very popular kid around here."

Lucien's brows rose a little. "Why not? He seems like a perfectly fine kid to me. What've they got against him?" His voice rose a bit by the end of the sentence, betraying his dislike of the situation. At that, Iruka smiled.

"You'll have to ask Naruto for the answer to that question." Before Lucien could argue, the front door flew open and the aforementioned orange-and-yellow ball of energy shot into Iruka's chest, nearly knocking the wind out of him.

"IRUKA-SENSEEEEEIIII! Are we going out for ramen tonight?" Laughing, Iruka nodded, hugging the blue-eyed blonde with an almost motherly tenderness.

Naruto noticed Lucien for the first time as he pulled away and exclaimed happily, "Oh, you're awake!" He gave the teenager a sheepish grin and finished, "Sorry for scaring you earlier. I didn't mean to…"

Lucien gave him a small smile and replied, "That's okay. The way I see it, it was better you than some random guy on the street." Noticing Iruka's curious eyes watching them, he explained, "I was educated on jutsus the hard way. What did you call it?" he finished to Naruto, who in turn puffed himself up proudly.

"The Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

"_Twelve_ Narutos. You would've fainted in fear, too," Lucien said jokingly, and Iruka laughed.

"Hey, hey! Iruka-sensei! Can we go now?" Iruka turned to Lucien asking, "Would you like to come with us? We're going out for ramen at Ichiraku's."

Lucien opened his mouth to say no thank you when his stomach growled- no, _snarled_ at him. Flushing, he ducked his head a little and nodded meekly, mumbling, "Uh, that would be great…"

Iruka hid his laughter with a cough, Naruto rushed off to throw his ninja gear in his room (he still had Lucien's bag), and the three of them were off.

It was dark out, but Lucien couldn't tell what time it was as they made their way through the emptying streets to a small outdoor restaurant. Iruka and Lucien sat on either side of Naruto, who barked out an order to the elderly man behind the counter. Lucien bent over to Iruka behind Naruto and whispered, "Would you order for me? I have no idea what to get."

Iruka gave him a questioning look but politely ordered two bowls of miso ramen before asking him about it.

"You mean you've never had ramen before?"

Lucien laughed slightly. "Nah. In fact, I've never used chopsticks in my life."

Iruka looked amazed. He opened his mouth to comment further when-

"Hi." -a platinum-haired, masked man seated himself beside Lucien, giving them all a small wave.

"Good evening Kakashi-sensei," Iruka replied politely, and Lucien wondered how he could be so civil all the time. Naruto mumbled something unintelligible around his mouthful of noodles (their ramen had just arrived, steaming and smelling delicious). Lucien just nodded to him

Lucien picked up his wooden chopsticks doubtfully and looked over to Iruka, observing him as he easily broke them apart and started eating. Lucien snapped his own chopsticks and tried to copy the way Naruto and Iruka held theirs. His brows furrowed as he found one of them kept slipping from his grip. Mouth twisting, he tried again, only to have the _other_ chopstick fall. Huffing, he was about ready to give up and just drink the ramen when long pale fingers wrapped around his hand, changing his grip gently and then showing him how to open and close them.

"Like this," murmured Kakashi's low voice close to his right. "O-oh," Lucien stammered back, just as quietly. Kakashi's bowl of tonkatsu ramen was placed in front of him at that moment, and he released Lucien's hand to pick up his own chopsticks.

Even after they had finished their dinner (with minimal mess-ups by Lucien), paid and said goodbye to Kakashi, and were heading back to Naruto's apartment, Lucien's hand still tingled oddly.

The trio stopped in front of the door, Iruka bidding them a goodnight before moving off with a cheery wave. Lucien turned to Naruto and said softly, "So, I guess I should get my stuff and go, then."

"No, no! You're staying with me! After you passed out, Kakashi-sensei looked at that scroll the ANBU gave you, and it said you were staying with me!" Naruto flashed a foxy grin before leading the way into the apartment. He paused in front of a familiar doorway and Lucien recognized it as the room he'd woken up in. Naruto smiled sheepishly and said, "Well, this is your room. The old man (AN: Also known as the Hokage) said he'd give you some money to start out with 'til you can find a job, so you can get some furniture an' stuff… Sorry it's so empty…" And he truly looked it. Lucien ruffled the unruly yellow-blonde hair and grinned at Naruto.

"Nah, it's fine, Naruto. G'night."

Looking relieved, Naruto mumbled, "Night…" and hurried off to his own room.

Once in his new room, Lucien stripped off his shirt, shoes, and socks and, after moving his bag (_'Naruto must have put it in here when he put his ninja stuff away'_), he flopped onto the sofa, pulling the blanket over himself.

Under the safety of the blanket, he brushed the fingers of his left hand over the back of his right, shivering. It still tingled.

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Holy crap, I took forever posting this! Please don't kill me? hides


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